FKANCK. 



-,., -,1 to the construction of a railroad fntin 

 Ilin- to Phu-Lang-Thuoug, of which the court 

 Imilil tin- ><><> kilometres that are in Annamese 

 territory. 'I'he ( 'hampers, in March, voted 12,- 

 000,000 francs for clearing off the delieits of the 

 T'iii|iiin administration. M. ile Lancssan's poli- 

 cy \\.-t- regarded with mistrust by many people 

 in France, chielly for the reason that he used the 

 native authorities and restored the mandarins to 

 ollieial positions, whereas his predecessors had 

 attempted to govern the country with none but 

 l-'ivnch administrative officers. When he had 

 800 kilometres of roads built to connect the prin- 

 cipal towns, by hundreds of thousands of the 

 population who gave their labor on the demand 

 of the authorities, his critics expressed a fear 

 that at a given moment the reinstated manda- 

 rins illicit in the same way summon hundreds of 

 thousands for the purpose of overthrowing 

 French rule. His conciliatory policy had the 

 e licet of causing piracy to disappear from the 

 Delta. The military had a series of successes in 

 a \ it, p orous campaign in the spring, and captured 

 forts and broke up bands. The military situa- 

 t in seemed more favorable than it had ever been 

 until the summer of 1892. when Chinese ma- 

 rauders appeared on the borders of the Delta. 

 Plantations near Phu-Lang-Thuong were looted, 

 and a prominent French colonist named Vezin 

 was kidnaped. On July 9 a convoy carrying 

 stores to the posts in the hilly country fell into 

 an ambush near Bac-Le, and Capt. Charpentier, 

 Commandant Bonneau, and ten men were killed. 

 On July 29 the post of Ha Hca was surprised 

 and captured by Chinese pirates. 



Madagascar. The island of Madagascar, 

 wit h an area of 228,500 square miles and a popu- 

 lation estimated at 3.500,000, is claimed as a 

 French protectorate, although the native Ilova 

 (ioveriiment, which has its seat at Antananarivo, 

 in the center of the island, remains independent 

 except in its foreign relations. Queen Kanava- 

 lona III, born about 1861, succeeded to the throne 

 on July 13. 1883. The Hovas, a mixed Malayan 

 race, who dominate the other tribes, number about 

 1,000,000. There are about 350,000 Protestants 

 and 35,000 Roman Catholics among them. The 

 absolute despotism that formerly prevailed has 

 been considerably modified, and the practical 

 head of governmental affairs is the Prime Minis- 

 ter, who is assisted by subordinate ministers at 

 the head of the several departments. The pres- 

 ent Prime Minister, Raiuilaiarivony, was married 

 to Queen Ranavalona previous to her corona- 

 tion. France has a colony at Diego Suarez, a 

 harbor at the north end of the island, where 

 t here are GOO French residents, without counting 

 the garrison. The exports of Madagascar are 

 cattle, rubber, hides, horns, coffee, lard, sugar, 

 vanilla, wax, -rum copal, and seeds. The trade 

 is with the neighboring islands of Reunion and 

 Mauritius, and with France, England, and the 

 I'nited States. The trade with the United States 

 is increasing. 



Diego Suarez is a district situated on a large 

 bay. It was coded to France by the treaty of 

 Dec. 17, 1885. The local budget for 1890 was 

 172,3(55 francs. The French expenditure for 

 1892 is 2,112.970 irancs. The islands of Nossi- 

 Be and St. Marie, which have lone been French 

 possessions, but are inhabited by Malagasies 



and ne^roo, who cultivate sugar cane, coffee, 

 and rice, are adminiMered from Dii-^o Suarc/. 

 Reunion, 420 miles east of Madagascar, has an 

 area of 9(i. r ) square mile- and 1>.".!M5 inhabitants, 

 most of them ereoles. who cultivate sugar cane. 

 coffee, cacao, vanilla, and >pices, and di.-till ruin, 

 which finds a market in Madagascar and on the 

 African continent. The exports in 18h!i amount- 

 ed to 13,901,601 francs. Mayotte and the Como- 

 ro islands are the other French possessions in 

 this part of the ocean. Mayotte produces rum, 

 sugar, and vanilla, and most of its exports, like 

 those of Reunion, go to France. 



French Possessions in Ocean lea. The 

 chief colony of France in the Pacific is the penal 

 settlement of New Caledonia, which has an area 

 of 6,000 square miles and 62,752 inhabitants, of 

 whom 7,477 are convicts, 2,515 free convicts, 8,- 

 476 officials and military, 5,585 colonists, 41,874 

 natives, and 1,825 imported laborers. The co- 

 lonial budget for 1890 was 2,746,798 francs; the 

 expenditure of the home Government for 1892, 

 2,746,798 francs. Nickel, chrome, cobalt, silver 

 ore. and preserved meat are exported. The value 

 of the imports in 1890 was 11,091,500 francs; of 

 the exports, 7,140,550 francs. 



The other French islands include several 

 groups dependent on New Caledonia, the Society 

 Islands, Raiatea and Tubuai-Moru. Iluahine and 

 Bora-Bora, the Marquesas Islands, Tuamotu, the 

 Gambier and Tubuai Islands, and Rapa. Tahiti, 

 the chief island of the Society group, has an 

 area of 412 square miles and a population of 11,- 

 200. The exports are copra, mother-of-pearl, cot- 

 ton, and pearls. The imports in 1890 amounted 

 to 134,144, of which 80,105 came from the 

 United States, and the exports to 126,724, of 

 which 52,492 went to the United States. 



Raiatea, Tubuai-Moru, Iluahine, and Bora- 

 Bora constitute the Leeward Islands, which re- 

 mained independent by virtue of an Anglo- 

 French agreement until, in return for the with- 

 drawal of the French from the New Hebrides, 

 Great Britain permitted France to establish her 

 dominion over them. Soon after the French oc- 

 cupation the inhabitants of Iluahine ami Bora- 

 Bora revolted, but they were persuaded to suc- 

 cumb by the British consul. The Raiateans 

 were not willing to submit to French authority, 

 and when the French officials attempted to im- 

 pose it in 1892 they prepared to resist. One 

 half of the island was in French possession, hav- 

 ing been bought from its chief when the islands 

 were first occupied, in 1888. The other part was 

 ruled by Tamitea, who determined to fight for 

 his prerogative, and made depredations on 

 French territory. He gave in when three cruis- 

 ers appeared, in May, and landed a force of ma- 

 rines, and thus the rebellion was put down with- 

 out bloodshed. 



The joint French and English control over the 

 New Hebrides was too lax to restrain the lawless 

 savagery of the natives, who killed an English- 

 man and afterward two French settlers. An 

 Knglish cruiser that was sent after the first mur- 

 der accomplished nothing, and when the French- 

 men were assassinated an English and a French 

 \-es>el were sent to punish the natives of the is- 

 land of Mallicolo, where the crime took place. 



On Aug. 28. 1892. the French flag was hoisted 

 on the Gloriosa Islands, between the Aldabra 



